The Imperial Master said, "It's not that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't know this, but he doesn't know what to do."

Xie Lian bowed his head slightly and said, “He is a god, so he naturally cannot tell his followers that he does not allow them to worship gods other than himself. I am afraid he would not bother to make such a request in his heart.”

The Imperial Master said, "You certainly understand him very well."

Xie Lian added, “However, it happened to be at such a critical moment. He couldn’t be without believers and mana, otherwise it would affect the construction of Tongtian Bridge.”

The Imperial Master said, "That's right. Therefore, we four have no choice but to convey the interests involved to the people of the country."

Xie Lian asked, “What was the result?”

Hua Cheng said: "It's not that bad."

The Imperial Master said, "Not really. At least not as good as we expected. Some people were worried that the bridge could not be built, so they calmed down a little. But a large part of the people thought that the Crown Prince was too overbearing. It is understandable that when their wishes are not fulfilled, they turn to worship other gods who can fulfill their wishes. They are free believers, and they believe in whatever they want. It is natural."

"It's not that he doesn't want to satisfy everyone, but he really is..."

Xie Lian sighed and whispered, “…I have the will but not the strength.”

The Imperial Master continued, "After His Royal Highness the Crown Prince learned about this, he stopped us and said that those who wanted to leave could leave, and that if they were forced to stay, they would not truly believe in him. That is true. Although we warned them again and again, the believers' hearts have already dispersed. Even if they reluctantly came back, they were not sincere enough, and their faith was not as strong as before. They were just perfunctory."

Xie Lian said, “He couldn’t get angry at his followers, and he wasn’t willing to ask other priests for help.”

The Imperial Master said, “Even if he asked, the other priests would not help him at all. If they were willing to help, they would not have objected at the beginning, and they would not have taken the opportunity to seduce his followers later.”

"His Royal Highness has become increasingly silent. He built and supported that bridge all by himself. I watch him every day. Although he says nothing, I can see how much pain he is in. And this pain can only be borne by him alone. Even if the four of us want to help, we can't share much of it for him.

"Finally, after three years of struggling, the volcano is about to erupt.

"As soon as the news was announced, people rushed to the bridge. The four of us led the huge crowd while worrying about the Crown Prince who was supporting the situation alone."

The Imperial Master sighed, "We never worried about him not being able to do something before, but at that time, we actually started to worry about him."

"At first, the bridge was relatively stable. But as more and more people rushed up and it took longer and longer to hold up, His Highness's hands began to tremble and his face turned pale.

"Others couldn't see it at all, only we could see it. I felt it was not good, so I told people to wait a moment, give him some time, and not to rush towards him all at once. Just give him a breath, and he will definitely save you all. But the volcano was about to erupt, and lives were in danger. No one was willing to wait, and everyone rushed to the bridge like crazy, even trampling people to death. We couldn't stop them at all!

"Finally, the thing we feared most happened.

"During the past three years, due to the continuous loss of believers, His Royal Highness's magic power is no longer as strong as before. When tens of thousands of people rushed to the bridge to celebrate their salvation and were happily heading towards heaven, the bridge broke."

Xie Lian held his breath.

The Imperial Master said, “The rainbow in the sky was torn apart, and tens of thousands of people, densely packed together, suddenly fell from the sky, screaming heartbreakingly as they fell into the sea of ​​fire. Right before His Royal Highness’ eyes, they were instantly burned to ashes!

"I was almost petrified at the time. I didn't dare to look at the Crown Prince's face. I couldn't get up, couldn't get him out, couldn't put out the fire. There was no way! Even more people who hadn't had time to get out were buried in the lava and sealed in by the flying ash. They screamed, cried, and cursed. The scene was really terrifying... I have never seen anything more terrifying than that."

Xie Lian imagined it for a moment, and felt a slight chill in his heart. The Imperial Master continued.

"The bridge is broken. The people of Wuyong have gone crazy."

"They set fire to the Crown Prince's palace and temple, toppled his statue, stabbed his heart with a knife, and called him a useless thing, a shitty god. He is a god, a god should be extremely powerful, and a god cannot fail.

"But he failed. So, he can't sit on it anymore.

"The priests in heaven had been waiting for this moment. They said, 'We told you long ago that this is not okay. You have caused too much trouble. We have no choice but to ask you to leave.'

"And His Royal Highness asked a very stupid question. He asked: 'Why don't you help me?'

"Why would others help you for no reason? Moreover, if he succeeds in helping Wuyong Kingdom overcome this catastrophe, won't he have no rivals in the heavens?

"So, it was a really stupid question. I think he knew that, but he asked it anyway.

“Of course no one answered him, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was demoted.

"He fell back to the human world. He was no longer a god, nor a prince. We followed him and said that he would definitely be able to ascend again. So he started practicing again. But it was too difficult. You should understand."

Xie Lian certainly understood.

The higher you stand, the harder you fall. After falling from the sky to the earth, what will greet him will be endless coldness and malice.

The Imperial Master said: "The volcano is still erupting, and Wuyong State has fallen into an unprecedented state of desolation. Refugees, rebellions, and invasions continue, and everyone is in a state of panic. Moreover, their attitude towards His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is completely different from before.

"Even so, His Royal Highness still wanted to help people. But, at this time, another incident happened.

“Many other priests began to show mercy.

"Although they were unwilling to stop the volcano from erupting, they were happy to offer some small favors, such as herbs and food. Because at this time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been demoted, and what he could do was certainly far less than what these priests could do.

"It's as if the Wuyong people suddenly grabbed a lifeline and a reincarnated parent. The number of believers has increased even faster. In fact, there are not many left. All the praise and love for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been transferred intact to other priests, leaving him with only hatred and disgust."

The Imperial Master closed his eyes and said, “We were really unwilling to accept this at that time.

"It's obvious that these priests didn't do much for them. They only showed up to pretend to do so after the disaster was over. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was the one who did the most. He tried his best, and he could have succeeded. He was just one step away! But why was he the only one who was doomed in the end? Why did the people who gave the most turn a blind eye, while those who gave a little were thanked?

“That’s when I started to change my mind.

"I can't help but think that if His Royal Highness had chosen to pretend that he didn't know about the future he foresaw in his dream from the beginning, and stood aside and watched with the excuse that 'this is destiny, and the gods can't do anything about it', and only gave a little reward reluctantly like the other priests after the volcano erupted, people would definitely be grateful to him."

Hua Cheng said calmly: "Did you think of it only then? You should have thought of it at the beginning. If you cut a piece of flesh to save a person, the person will be grateful. But the more you cut, the more people will want. In the end, even if you cut that person to pieces until only a skeleton is left, the person will not be satisfied."

The Imperial Master said, “I don’t dare to tell him these thoughts, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has become increasingly silent. I don’t know what he is thinking, and whether he has thought about the same things as I do.

"Day after day, the volcano continued to erupt intermittently, and the entire Wuyong Kingdom was immersed in panic for a long time. No one knew how to stop it and end this nightmare.

"One day, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly told us that he had found a way to stop the volcano. But when he told us the method, we had a big fight."

Hua Cheng said: "I guess the method is to sacrifice a living person."

The Imperial Master said, “Yes. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that he has selected a group of evil people who can be used as sacrifices. By throwing them into the copper furnace, the anger of the copper furnace can be calmed.

"The four of us have different specific ideas, but in general, we are against it. We must not do this. Your Highness did not want Wu Yong to send troops to attack other countries because he did not want to exchange his life for another's. If we choose to sacrifice a living person to the copper furnace now, what is the difference? It may even be worse. Some of the opposition was particularly fierce, and they directly quarreled with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

They quarreled so much that they even fought. I was against it at first, but compared to the attacks from outside, our quarrels were more unbearable. You know, the four of us have always supported His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and now we are his only support, but that time, not only did they fight in excitement, but someone also told His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that he had changed, that he had forgotten his original intention, and that he was no longer the original Crown Prince.

"Those few words were so hurtful that I really couldn't stand it. If we all stood against His Highness and accused him, there would be no one in the world who would stand with him. So in the end, I didn't object, I just said forget it, don't care about these anymore, whether it's the heaven, the human world, or the refugees, just don't care about them. It's really too tiring.

"But no one listened to me. After a big fight, the other three people, except me, left."

Xie Lian shook his head, not knowing what to say. However, leaving at this time would undoubtedly make matters worse.

The Imperial Master said, "I was the only one who stayed. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said nothing, but only asked me, 'Are you going or not?'

"Seeing the expression on his face when he asked me this question, I felt that even if he really threw people into the copper furnace as sacrifices, I could understand. I said, 'Your Highness, I will not leave.'

"His Royal Highness still said nothing. He did not mention the use of living people for sacrifice again. He changed his mind and set up an altar near the copper furnace. I also worked with him every day, enduring the insults and stones thrown by many refugees, practicing magic and trying to suppress the anger of the volcano.

“I thought the matter was over. But one day, I discovered something that horrified me.

At this point, the Imperial Master's expression became extremely terrifying, as if he saw that horrifying scene again. Xie Lian's heart seemed to be squeezed by an invisible hand, and he asked, "What's the matter?"

The Imperial Master said, "He...he suddenly covered his face."

“…”

The Imperial Master said, "Your Highness is handsome and never covers his face. Nothing can hurt his face. I have never seen him like this in all these years, so I am very puzzled. I asked him, Your Highness, what happened to your face? He said that he was accidentally burned by fire.

"I had no idea where he got hurt. He didn't let me see the wound, applied herbs on himself, and his whereabouts suddenly became erratic. These were all very unusual, but at this time, a great thing happened, which temporarily diverted my attention - the volcano suddenly stopped erupting.

"The copper furnace returned to its dead silence, gradually settling down, and did not erupt again for a long time. Since only His Royal Highness had worked on this, many Wuyong people thought that he had suppressed the volcano, and some people began to worship him again. His Royal Highness's path of cultivation also became smoother. At least, no one insulted or threw stones at him anymore, and people gradually smiled at him again.

“But I always felt like something was wrong.

"Many things are wrong. Although my three friends have different personalities, I know them to some extent. They shouldn't all just walk away and ignore me. Even if they are really angry with His Royal Highness, they wouldn't be angry with me too and not send any news at all.

"The most abnormal thing is the face of His Royal Highness. He has been covering his face with something, first with rags, then with a cape, and later, he wore a mask and never took it off all day.

"Sometimes I even wonder if this person is not the Crown Prince at all, but someone else pretending to be him, because the way he speaks, acts, and even his personality has all changed. Sometimes he is kind and amiable, and sometimes he suddenly gets furious. Once he was alone in the room and smashed all the mirrors, causing blood to flow from unknown places. What's even more terrifying is that I often hear some strange noises."

Xie Lian asked, “What’s that sound?”

The Imperial Master said, “Sometimes, late at night, there would be voices coming from the Crown Prince’s room, as if several people were talking and arguing in a low voice. But when I went in to see, there was only one person in the room. After a few times, the Crown Prince asked me not to enter his room anymore.

"One night, I heard the strange sound again, and this time, I found that it seemed to be the voices of my three friends!

"I couldn't help it. I thought, could it be that they came back secretly? Why did they hide it from me? So I got up and ran to the prince's room.

"Strangely, there was really no one else in the room, only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince lying on the bed, with his mask on. I stood and listened for a while, and found that those sounds seemed to come from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

“To be precise, it came from under his mask.

"I slowly walked to the bedside of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The closer I got, the more certain I was that the sound was coming from under the mask. Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was talking in his sleep? Did he miss his friends so much that he learned their voices in his dreams?

"I hesitated for a long time, and His Royal Highness did not move. I thought he was asleep, so I gently removed the mask on his face, and then I saw something."

There was an unconcealable look of fear in the Imperial Master's eyes.

He said: "I saw my three friends.

"It's either His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or them who are talking. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's face is covered with scratches from sharp weapons, his skin has been peeled off, and his blood is half-coagulated. Moreover, I don't know when three more faces have grown on him, and their mouths are moving, opening and closing. They are their faces!!!"

Xie Lian shuddered and said, “He… threw the three servants who left him into the bronze furnace as well?”